Dead man had links to city's underworld

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Police were yesterday still unsure if a man whose body was found dumped in inner-suburban Melbourne at the weekend was the latest underworld murder victim.

Detective Inspector Andrew Allen, head of the Purana taskforce investigating the gangland killings, said the man had been identified as Sean Vincent, 39, who also used the names Lewis Caine and Adrian Bligh.

Mr Allen said Vincent - a killer and martial arts expert who was on parole at the time of his death - had links to underworld identities such as Carl Williams and Dominic "Mick" Gatto.

But Mr Allen said yesterday police were "still looking at whether that's a tenuous association or whether there's something in that we need to further pursue".

Vincent's body was found in Katawa Grove, Brunswick, about 11pm on Saturday.

Police believe he was shot elsewhere and his body dumped in the dead-end street.

Mr Allen said he was not a person of interest to Purana before he was killed but the taskforce was now investigating his death because of "some links" to other matters they were probing.

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He said police were trying to find out where Vincent had lived in the hope of finding clues about his murder.

He said it was believed that Vincent left his home in the city just before 8pm on Saturday and walked or caught a taxi or public transport to another location.

"We would appeal to any taxi driver or anybody in the city that might have seen him to contact us. We're trying to piece together the last hours of his life," Mr Allen said.

Vincent was on parole after being convicted twice of the 1988 beating murder of David Templeton outside Lazars nightclub in King Street.

He won an appeal after his first trial by arguing the judge failed to properly instruct the jury on the provocation defence. A second jury found him guilty of Templeton's murder and he was sentenced to 15 years' jail with a minimum of 10.

Mr Allen said Vincent had been released from jail about five years ago and was on parole.

Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.